“Da, a date?”
He was so startled that his pitch jumped all over the place. As if he needed to make sure he’d really heard correctly, Han-gyeom asked again.
“Yeah. Why? Don’t want to?”
“There’s no way I wouldn’t!”
His voice rose without him meaning to. When it rang through the lobby, Han-gyeom startled himself too and awkwardly glanced around. Thankfully, there weren’t many people inside the student union building.
“Okay, then let’s go on a date.”
“Yes……!”
Han-gyeom nodded his head hard. He shook it so vigorously that his hair fluttered all over the place. At the sight of that, even Won-hyeok’s mouth, which had stayed stiff the whole time, loosened a little.
Leaving behind the words that they should talk about the place and time over text, Won-hyeok disappeared. Han-gyeom stood there blankly for a while. Then he smacked both cheeks, hard enough to make a sharp slapping sound. A student passing nearby jumped in surprise and gave him a strange look.
His cheeks stung. That pain became very solid proof that this was real. It meant Won-hyeok asking him on a date was neither a lie nor a dream.
Han-gyeom bit down on his lower lip. His heart was pounding wildly, and with anticipation poured into him like fuel, it felt as though his blood itself were burning, making his whole body heat up.
“A date with sunbae…….”
No matter how many times he rolled the words around in his head, the two still didn’t seem to go together at all. It felt like he could endure even the boring lectures and tear-inducing assignments as long as he had this one Saturday date to look forward to.
But then a trial Han-gyeom had never once expected came crashing down on him.
“Wh, what am I supposed to wear……?”
He had absolutely no idea what someone was supposed to wear on a date.
Time flew by, and the day he was supposed to meet Won-hyeok arrived. Their meeting time was 3 p.m. Following Won-hyeok’s suggestion that they watch a movie first, they’d decided to meet in front of the theater.
And the current time, with Han-gyeom having just declared a glorious defeat in front of the clothing rack, was 11 a.m., which meant there was still quite a while left before they were supposed to meet.
Han-gyeom, who had gotten up early—or, more accurately, had tossed and turned in excitement and practically stayed up all night—was now facing an unexpected obstacle in front of the rack, the only place in this studio apartment where he kept his clothes.
All that filled his vision were achromatic clothes in black or gray, with the occasional white mixed in. And on top of that, they were all hoodies, sweatshirts, basic tees, things like that.
“How do I only have clothes like this…….”
If he’d known he’d get a lover and have dates to go on, he would’ve bought some clothes. How was it that everything he owned was stuff he absolutely couldn’t call well-dressed, but also couldn’t quite call badly dressed either—just basic items hovering in that awkward middle ground?
Unfortunately, Han-gyeom had so little interest in fashion that he didn’t even care about the first letter of the word. He was the type to just order whatever looked reasonably comfortable to wear from the internet. Bluntly speaking, there hadn’t been anyone he wanted to look good for, and he’d never once given serious thought to the clothes he wore.
But if today’s event was a date with sunbae, that changed things. This wasn’t just eating a meal together, and it wasn’t about having an assignment looked over either. It was a date. There was no way he could go dressed the same as usual for something like that. No matter how clueless he was about romance, even he knew that the way you dressed was a matter of courtesy toward the other person.
In the end, after wrestling with it for a whole hour, Han-gyeom succeeded in digging out an ivory cardigan. He put a basic tee under a pair of jeans and wore the cardigan over it. Thankfully, it turned him into something decent enough to breathe a little easier, but when he happened to check the time, he couldn’t help being shocked. He’d wasted so much time choosing one outfit that it was already almost time to leave.
He took the bus to the meeting place. Even then, Han-gyeom’s heart was thumping faintly. It had already been a very long time since he’d gone out to meet someone on a weekend, and considering who that someone was, there was no way he wouldn’t be nervous.
After getting off the bus, he hurried toward the place they’d agreed to meet, and before long he saw the building with the movie theater in the distance. And in front of it, a familiar figure immediately caught his eye. Won-hyeok, wearing slightly loose wide-leg pants and a roomy charcoal jacket, was leaning against the wall while looking at his phone.
At school, he usually wore his hair down casually, but today he had half of it brushed up and back. Han-gyeom’s steps came to an abrupt stop at the sight. His Adam’s apple bobbed noticeably as he swallowed without thinking. If someone took a picture of Won-hyeok standing there like that, leaning at an angle with that expressionless face, it would definitely come out looking worthy of a photo book spread.
Han-gyeom was staring blankly as though looking at a painting when a man suddenly stepped into his field of vision. With pretty features like Han-gyeom’s and a comparatively slight build, he looked omega at a glance.
The man said something to Won-hyeok, then held out his phone. Han-gyeom was watching Won-hyeok’s lips move as he gave an awkward smile and said something in return when their eyes met exactly.
Having spotted Han-gyeom, Won-hyeok strode over.
“Han-gyeom.”
“Ah, hello.”
Even while greeting him properly, Han-gyeom flicked his gaze behind him. The man who had been talking to Won-hyeok earlier was still staring this way with curious eyes. Han-gyeom realized it. The favor in his eyes, and the desire.
“Han-gyeom, hold on. There’s something here.”
With a gentle touch, Won-hyeok brushed Han-gyeom’s bangs up. At the sudden contact, Han-gyeom flinched but still awkwardly tugged up the corners of his mouth.
“Ah, what…….”
Then the man standing behind Won-hyeok, who had been clutching his phone anxiously, let his shoulders droop and turned away without lingering.
“Shall we go? The movie’s almost starting.”
“Yes.”
As Han-gyeom habitually fixed his bangs, he went into the theater side by side with Won-hyeok.
“Did you see earlier?”
“What…… ah, I did.”
As they rode the escalator up, Won-hyeok asked casually. At first Han-gyeom didn’t know what he meant, but it seemed he was probably referring to what happened in front of the building earlier.
“Hm, let me just say this first—I didn’t give him my number.”
“Huh? Ah, okay!”
Han-gyeom tilted his head, then innocently nodded. At that, Won-hyeok looked at him as if he found him strange.
“You’re not upset or anything, right?”
“Upset? No. I’m in a really good mood right now.”
Han-gyeom answered with a smile completely devoid of malice, not stained by even a single lie. His face was full only of anticipation for the movie he was about to watch with Won-hyeok, and he truly didn’t seem to have any particular thoughts at all about the fact that someone had shown interest in his lover and approached him to get his number.
“More importantly, sunbae, you look seriously amazing today. I think that person had a good eye too. He realized how incredibly handsome you are and instantly got interested.”
“No……”
“Ah, do we print the tickets over there?”
By then they had reached the very top floor where the theater was, and Han-gyeom walked over to the ticket kiosk with the excited face of a child.
Watching his back, Won-hyeok’s expression turned strangely complex.
After printing the tickets, Won-hyeok even bought popcorn and cola. The movie tickets had already been booked by Won-hyeok, so Han-gyeom had tried to insist that he at least pay for the snacks, but that suggestion was dismissed.
Before long, it was time to enter, and when they stepped into the theater, they could see the seats densely packed with people. Han-gyeom had told him he was fine with anything and to just book whatever was convenient, but it seemed to be a fairly popular film after all.
In the dark theater, the sound of advertisements poured out. But those noises didn’t reach Han-gyeom’s ears right now. He was too overwhelmed by the fact that Won-hyeok was sitting in the seat beside him, and that if he only turned his head, he could see his face perfectly well. Han-gyeom kept sneaking glances like he was stealing them, and of all things, their eyes met.
When Won-hyeok smiled a little, Han-gyeom clenched his fist tightly and ducked his head at once.
Won-hyeok, looking down at Han-gyeom like that while eating a piece of popcorn, wore a subtle expression that vanished as the advertisements ended and the screen went dark.
“Ah, Han-gyeom.”
“Yes?”
Before the movie properly started, while the notice about theater etiquette was playing, Won-hyeok leaned close to Han-gyeom and whispered softly.
“I’m asking just in case, but you’re okay with scary stuff, right?”
“……What?”
“This is a horror movie.”
Uh—before Han-gyeom could respond, the theater went completely dark and the movie began in earnest.
To state the conclusion plainly, Han-gyeom was not good with scary things. Back in high school, during a field trip to an amusement park, some kids who liked fooling around had dragged him by force into a haunted house, and he’d gotten so frightened he actually lost consciousness for a moment.
And right now, Han-gyeom regretted it. Telling Won-hyeok that he was fine with anything and to book whatever was convenient. He should’ve at least said he couldn’t handle horror. Come to think of it, he remembered Hyun-ah saying something the other day about the horror movie that was drawing unusually good numbers right now.
So this was that one. No, but if it was a horror movie, shouldn’t it have come out in summer?
Every time a scary scene came on, Han-gyeom squeezed his eyes shut and endured it. When he glanced to the side, Won-hyeok looked completely unaffected, if anything even slightly interested and focused on the movie, so Han-gyeom couldn’t bring himself to make it obvious.
Luckily, maybe because it was still the beginning, nothing especially scary had happened yet—
Bang—!
[Kyaaaaah!]
The moment he thought that, a ghost with blood smeared all over its mouth leaped onto the screen along with an enormous crash. On top of that came an actress’s scream sharp enough to tear through eardrums. Short screams broke out among the audience too, and it was such an impactful scene that some people even spilled their popcorn.
“……Han-gyeom.”
“…….”
“So you can’t watch scary things.”
Han-gyeom didn’t scream or flinch like everyone else. He simply grabbed Won-hyeok’s arm and buried his face into him, as if running away to find somewhere safe.
“So, sorry……. I actually can’t watch this.”
Han-gyeom raised only his head slightly and looked at Won-hyeok. Through the strands of hair mussed against Won-hyeok’s clothes, his particularly large eyes stood out clearly. Eyes that looked faintly wet stared straight at Won-hyeok.
The hand clutching his clothes tightly as though they were a lifeline looked heartbreakingly pitiful.
“Sunbae…… when the ghost is gone, could you tell me?”
“Sure.”
Won-hyeok glanced at the screen.
“Ah, it’s coming out again.”
“Eek—” Han-gyeom made a strange little noise and clung even more tightly to Won-hyeok’s arm, burrowing in deeper.
“Ah, it’s still there?”
“Yeah. Don’t lift your head. It’s still on screen.”
“Okaaay…….”
The round crown of his head, the nervous breaths brushing against his arm. The small shoulders twitching every time he was told the ghost had appeared. Won-hyeok began seriously watching Han-gyeom instead of the movie.
“How long is it going to stay out there…….”
“Who knows. It really doesn’t want to leave.”
A smile traced itself onto Won-hyeok’s lips. On the screen he glanced at, the female lead was riding in a car on her way somewhere. The ghost had long since disappeared without a trace, but Won-hyeok kept Han-gyeom clinging to him a little longer.
